Arri Bachrach wrote:

>can't understand this raving about Lewenthal's playing.  A friend sent
>me his Rubenstein  PC #4 plus a whole bunch of Alkan.  What I hear is a
>musical pianist but with a technique that is often seriously "challenged"
>when things gets real difficult. He does not really have a major league
>technique needed for these pieces.

If you are comparing Lewenthal to Hamelin or even John Ogdon, perhaps
you have a point.  But Lewenthal's recordings came out in the mid 60's
when no one was recording this music. The closest we had to Lewehtnal's
performances and reportoire was John Ogden who made a big splash in 1964
with his performance (and subsequent recording) of Busoni's Piano Concerto.

If you think Lewenthal's technique was not up to the task (and I personally
do not think he lacked technique) you should listen to Ronald Smith ("The
Amazing Mr. Smith") Hearing Mr Smith perform Alkan is the sonic equivalent
to watching a 6 year old play Serena Williams.

Dave Harman
El Paso, TX